Inquisitor 1624: Insults by Chalicea

15 comments on “Inquisitor 1624: Insults by Chalicea”

1. Yes – on the easier side as expected, but no less enjoyable for that. Finding the quotation despite knowing vaguely what I was looking for was the most challenging bit of the puzzle. A welcome change of pace…

2. I’m second in this week but Jon_S @1 has already stolen my thunder. I very much enjoyed this puzzle and the end game involved some well worthwhile effort.

3. Remembering other puzzles by Chalicea that I have solved, I found this to be more challenging than expected, and I had a lot of looking up to do to get all the clues out. It was well worth the effort in the end, as the clues were good, and it was satisfying to come up with a completed grid and a full set of ‘extra’ letters.

   V SIGN seemed the most likely entry at 31d, but I got distracted by other things that I saw in the grid. There was KEN HOM (with BOY MAN strangely appearing symmetrically opposite), indicating a possible ASIAN at 33d, but that led nowhere. Reverting to V SIGN, I then saw ‘G G STEWARDS’ going across, reminding me of Harvey Smith’s famous V sign, but that too led nowhere.

   Fortunately, I thought of Winston Churchill next, and as soon as I did so I spotted UGLY and RUNK in the diagonals, leading me to a ‘full exchange’ that I recognised. I saw and dismissed ‘…WISH ALL…’ long before I latched on to the correct quote, not realising that this text was part of it.

   Incorporating such a substantioal quote in such an aesthetically pleasing way, covering a quarter of the grid, was a remarkable achievement by the setter.

   Congratulations to Chalicea and many thanks to HolyGhost.

4. How my heart lights up when I see Chalicea as the setter! A few pints in a quiet pub with one of her enjoyable crosswords is an afternoon well spent. Thanks to both setter and blogger.

5. I wonder if the unclued answer was originally V SIGNS? This would generate the extra S to make the instruction end with SLIGHT…just as it begins with SHADE?

6. I like to think the story is true. Very clever compiling and nicely blogged,

   Thanks all.

7. Ylo@5 – that is very clever indeed.

   I also found this harder than expected after a quick start; once I came to ‘v-sign’, I did spends some moments wondering about the wit and wisdom of Harvey Smith, before turning the hand round. Still hard to actually find the quote, though I was pretty sure what it would be. As Alan B says, brilliant construction.

8. Good to have an easier solve for a change but cannot believe how long it took us to find the endgame. Whilst one of us searched for Churchill quotes (we discounted Harvey Smith for some reason) the other one poured over the grid.

   Lovely construction – just what an IQ should be.

   If others haven’t seen the article about John Henderson in the i today it is worth having a look. We are fortunate to have him as the IQ Crossword Editor.

   Thanks to HolyGhost as well. Most impressed that you remember Chalicea for the long diagonal quotations. Maybe we will remember this for the next one.

9. How my heart lights up when I see Chalicea as the setter! (post 4) sums it up perfectly for me. I found this a little harder than usual for this setter, probably because I spent more time than most following the Harvey Smith route. (No surprises there – if there’s a false trail I’ll always follow it.) Great stuff and proof that puzzles don’t need to be complicated be satisfying and fun. Thanks, Chalicea.
   

10. It is a great pleasure to be so warmly welcomed as a setter. Thank you to all of you, and to Holy Ghost. In setting, I hadn’t even thought of Harvey Smith. The version of the quotation I used is exactly as it appears in the ODHQ (which is well worth acquiring for the number of smiles it produces) except that the names ‘Winston’ and ‘Bessie’ precede the exchange. John questioned whether I could still get away with ‘full’ in the instruction and I had an alternative ‘highlight’ set of clues to replace the ‘shade full’ but we went with the ‘full’ and it seems to have been acceptable. I’ll have to avoid the diagonal quotation in my next one won’t I?

11. Joining the chorus: all thanks to Chalicea for a very enjoyable puzzle and to HG for the report. I always admire the weaving of long(ish) quotations into the grid, and the sense of relief on being able to finish without recourse to Google, Wikipedia and other such wickedness. Nor ODHQ for that matter, since we don’t have a copy.

    I remembered the quotation well enough, but in longer and perhaps embroidered form with the lines of dialogue starting “You, Sir …” and “And you, Madam …” There are of course multiple versions online, some even longer, some co-starring Bessie and some Nancy Astor. Never mind.

12. The reason Harvey Smith came first to mind was that his famous V-sign went so well with the title ‘Insults’. (I know the man himself said it was a victory sign, but he later admitted what we all knew.) Churchill’s V-sign was not an insult, but there’s no mistaking the nature of what was said in a completely different setting!

13. David Langford @11: the Nancy Astor interchange with Churchill is more commonly given as
    NA: “If you were my husband, I’d poison your tea.” WC: “Madam, if you were my wife, I’d drink it.”

    (Although the response is often attributed to others, such as F.E.Smith, a close friend of Churchill.)

14. Count me as another who is always pleased to see a Chalicea puzzle. I too found this tougher than usual and was struggling with much of the SE corner in particular. Like others, I recalled a puzzle that involved a long quote through the diagonals (“in the kingdom of the blind…”?) and finding “BUT TOMORR” confirmed this and was then much help in filling in some of my gaps.

15. I enjoyed this and I didn’t find it especially easy either: not a giveaway but not a mental battering either.  I think this is a good move from Chalicea, the puzzle is more satisfying as a result but has not lost the easygoing “just for fun” feel.  She has used the same diagonals for long quotes before so I was already looking there before the letters appeared.

    Thanks to all.

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